Chhattisgarh tapes: Congress questions credibility of chief secy’s probe

“Right from the start we have maintained that the CM’s name is involved in the tapes, and therefore the Chief Secretary should not be probing this case, " Chhattisgarh PCC president Bhupesh Baghel said.

chhattisgarh tapes, antagarh bypoll, antagarh bypoll fixing, antagarh bypoll case chief secreatry, Chhattisgarh Congress, Bhupesh Baghel, election commission, raman singh, chhattisgarh news, india news,

Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel (C) and T.S. Singh Deo meeting with senior congress leader Moti Lal Vohra at AICC in New Delhi last week. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)

Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday reiterated the demand for a CBI or a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the purported audio tapes that suggest a financial deal could have led to the withdrawal of a candidate from the Antagarh bypoll in 2014. Baghel questioned the credibility of the probe by the Chhattisgarh chief secretary after former Ajit Jogi loyalist Firoz Siddiqui, who first admitted to his voice being on the tapes, reportedly wrote to the officer, claiming that he “could not say with authority that it was his voice”.

READ | Chhattisgarh tapes: Did not verify voices in tapes, ex-Jogi loyalist tells chief secy

The chief secretary was asked to probe the allegations by the Election Commission after the tapes emerged. As reported earlier, The Indian Express had received tapes of several phone conversations purportedly between Ajit Jogi, Amit Jogi and Raman Singh’s son-in-law Puneet Gupta; between Congress candidate Manturam Pawar (who withdrew from the bypoll) and Firoz Siddiqui; a third between Pawar, who is now with the BJP, and Siddiqui; between Siddiqui and another Jogi loyalist Ameen Memon; and between Amit Jogi and Siddiqui.

Story continues below this ad

READ | 2 confirm their voices, CM Raman Singh denies, Jogi’s son says ‘tapes doctored’

“Right from the start we have maintained that the CM’s name is involved in the tapes, and therefore the Chief Secretary should not be probing this case. There is pressure from the government to suppress this issue. We had told the EC about the credibility of this inquiry.”

WATCH VIDEO: The Chhattisgarh Tapes : Did Congress & BJP ‘Fix’ bypoll?

The chief secretary had submitted his report to the EC on January 7. While clear details were yet to emerge, Baghel said that whatever the outcome, the processes followed will remain doubtful. “Who else has been contacted for the probe?… There is absolutely no transparency on the issue,” he said.